Garry and I then had the seemly bright idea to go for the recommended walk up French Mans peak, to take in the amazing views. It is supposedly a 1.5 hr round trip of moderate walking uphill and then down. Started out OK, walking along a track marked out and surrounded by interesting native vegetation.
Soon the track disappeared, replaced by white marker posts now and then up and increasingly steep granite rock surface. I was getting puffed but encouraged by Garry I thought I could do it (being the amazingly fit physical specimen I am, lol).
Then I turned around and looked down. Oh that's right, I don't like open heights, give me a fence or a wall or window etc I'm fine, out in the open with nothing to cling to, not so good. Cue major panic attack! So there we were, half way up this blasted rock, me blubbering like a fool and clinging to the granite frozen with fear. Poor Garry managed to plonk me in a little depression, where sitting down I felt safer. After a while I encouraged him to continue to the top while I waited, which gave me time to get used to the height.
Don't go anwhere he says, as if! I wasnt moving a muscle, in fact i had a severely numb bum by the time he returned. When he came back Garry said I would not have liked it up there at all, windy, open and high, gives me the shivers thinking about it! They would have had to winch me out under sedation.
Then I was faced with the problem of how to get down, because I actually had to look ahead, which was scary. Garry was great and coaxed me down, holding me all the way, me with my eyes covered much of the way, what a bloody drama queen I turned out to be!
The good news is I now know not to do anything like that again, that panicked feeling is notworth it, much as iI would like to be an intrepid daredevil, I,m more of a tepid scare devil!
The view from my ledge on Mt Doom as I waited for Garry
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